Sunday, August 28, 2011

A few weeks ago we invited readers of Third String Goalie to submit their own jerseys without any limitations of what kind of hockey jersey we were open to featuring, be it a replica, authentic or game worn jersey from the NHL, a national team, the minors, juniors, college, high school or even a pond hockey jersey.

We're pleased to say a number of readers have taken us up on our offer and we plan to feature their submissions on Sundays as long as they keep coming in. So far the variety and quality of the submissions have been downright amazing and we're looking forward to sharing with them you. We're sure your going to be impressed and hopefully motivated to send in the best from your collection.

Our first reader submission comes from Tris from Milton, Ontario and a 2007-2010 Raiders beer league jersey.

Tris writes:

Beer league is the colloquial name for a competitive adult recreational hockey league. Some are there to live out lost dreams, others are there to lose some weight, but all are there for the beer.

I present my beer league team jersey, which we used from 2007 to 2010. Our team in simply called the Raiders. As an avid hockey jersey collector, I wanted to go all-out with my team's uniform. We previously used very simple screen printed jerseys and I wanted to do better.

The jersey's resemblance to Team Germany's uniform (2002-2004) is no coincidence. I liked the style of it, and AK was able to craft a team set from one of the jerseys I own. This style is not in AK's stock catalogue, so it was a custom order.

A small embroidery shop crested and customized the team set. The main logo, which I had been working on for a few months prior, is actually a cross between the Gwinnett Gladiators of the ECHL, and the defunct Ottawa Rebel of the National Lacrosse League. The secondary logo on the shoulders pays tribute to our original logo.

We looked stellar on the ice... just didn’t always play like it.

After a few seasons of use, both during the winter and summer (yes, summer ice hockey), we found that these jerseys proved to be slightly overkill for average-joe use. Although very durable, they added a little too much drag while playing. This was especially felt during the summer months.

The successor is the following fully dye-sublimated Pro-Fit brand jersey, which we began using in the spring of 2010.

I was able to create the entire design for this jersey in Adobe Illustrator. The manufacturer then printed the pattern and artwork directly onto the material.

The primary and secondary marks were revamped to take advantage of the gradients that are possible using the sublimation method. However, I elected not to go with a bizarre design like you usually see with sublimated jerseys. I stuck with a very simple pattern, borrowing from the Anaheim Ducks’ colour scheme.

This jersey proved to be better suited for our use as it is much lighter than its predecessor, not to mention that jersey re-orders are easier as no minimums are required.

We think our readers will agree that those are a great looking pair of jerseys and a great way to kick off our reader submissions. The bar has certainly been set high in the beer league/pond hockey category and we can't thank Tris enough for being the first to send in a submission as well as providing such excellent photos.

If you would like to submit your own jersey, again without limitations, send it in along with a paragraph or two telling us why you like the jersey, how you got it, what makes it special to you or even a full-blown Third String Goalie-style history lesson - whatever you feel like sharing.

When sending in pictures, they must be at least 425 pixels wide at a minimum, which is actually rather small. If you send in larger pictures, don't worry, we will be resize them to fit our format for you.

A photo of the front of the jersey is obviously needed and a picture of the back is certainly preferred, especially if it has been customized with a name and number. You can also include any relevant detail photos if needed to tell your story, especially of any additional patches.

Lay the jersey flat, as shown below, and shoot the photos from as straight overhead as possible with the arms of the jersey folded so they run straight down the sides of the jersey.

If you have a jersey in your collection that comes to mind and you'd like to share it with us and your fellow readers, please submit your pictures and a story to go with it, no matter how brief or detailed, to spyboy1@gmail.com and we look forward to seeing your favorites!

Our aim is to feature a different jersey each day from a historical perspective. Stay tuned and hopefully you'll see some jerseys of interest or perhaps some that you haven't seen before and learn a bit of hockey history along the way.

In addition to our articles, be sure to scroll down this column and explore the other fun and informative features of this blog.

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SUBMIT YOUR JERSEY TO Third String Goalie

There is no limitation to what kind of hockey jersey it can be - replica, authentic or game worn jersey from the NHL, a national team, the minors, juniors, college, high school or even your pond hockey jersey.

Feel free to write a paragraph or two about the jersey telling us why you like the jersey, how you got it, what makes it special to you or even a full-blownThird String Goalie-style history lesson - whatever you feel like sharing.